Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released the new movie poster for Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters. Check it out now after the jump, along with the production notes for the film. Read More »

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Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released the second trailer for Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters, and thankfully it doesn’t seem to give too much away. If you’re taking my approach to the film and trying to see as little as possible, it looks like you’ll be safe watching this trailer. Read More »

I’m trying not to see too much from Monsters, the film by director Gareth Edwards that has been building buzz at festivals over the last few months. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the movie, and am eager to just see it for myself without having too many images already in my head. But this poster is quite nice, and shouldn’t do anything to skew your knowledge of the movie too far. Read More »

Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released the first movie trailer for Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters which takes a very District 9 approach to film marketing.

Since screening the film at Cannes, we’ve been hyping the movie (read my mini review here). We called it Lost in Translation in a world infested by monsters.The movie trailer definitely tries to sell the movie as more of a sci-fi thriller and less of the character piece that it really is. Watch it now, embedded after the jump.

Since screening the film at Cannes, we’ve been hyping Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters (read my mini review here). Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. We’ve posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget, and we’ve even posted a video showing you how Edwards produced the 250 high definition resolution effects shots by himself in in his bedroom for the 2008 one hour BBC drama Attila the Hun.

But when are you going to get the chance to see Monsters on the big screen? Magnolia Pictures’ genre arm Magnet have announced that the film will hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles on October 29th 2010.

Since screening the film at Cannes, we’ve been hyping Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters. Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. Yesterday we posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget.

Someone sent me a link to another video showcasing Gareth Edwards’ directorial and visual effects work on the 2008 one hour BBC drama Attila the Hun. Not only did Edwards direct the film, but he produced the 250 high definition resolution effects shots by himself in in his bedroom. He finished the vfx in just four months, using After Effects and Photoshop, averaging two shots a day. The Guardian called the special “a revolution in film-making.”

“…but the BBC doesn’t seem to know about it. The hour-long feature, commissioned by the corporation’s factual department, was made for the cost of the average documentary, was filmed over three weeks in Bulgaria, has a small cast and is receiving practically no promotion. Yet, through a combination of new, affordable computer software and a lot of ingenuity on the part of its director, Attila has battle scenes and ancient landscapes to match The Lord of the Rings or Gladiator. For the first time ever, a Hollywood-scale film has been made on a British TV budget.”

After the jump you can see a trailer for Edwards’ Attila the Hun, followed by visual breakdowns of all the special effects Edwards created using just off the shelf software in his London flat.

The best film I screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year was a sci-fi monster movie titled Monsters, which had originally premiered at SXSW. The film and director have been the talk of Hollywood ever since. Is he the next Neill Blomkamp?

The movie is set six years after a NASA probe crashed over Central America, causing the quarantine of half of Mexico. The story follows a US journalist who agrees to escort a shaken tourist through “the infected zone” to the safety of the US border. I’ve described the film as being “like Lost in Translation, set in Mexico, but with gigantic alien monsters.” It is also sure to draw comparisons to District 9, and shows shades of Jurassic Park. But the movie really isn’t about big budget effects, or jump scares, or the usual independent horror cliches. Instead the movie focuses on the two characters at the center of the story, and their experiences in this new world of terror. What sets it aside from most modern “horror” films is that you actually care about the characters, so that when a dangerous situation looms, the usually blood, guts and explosions aren’t necessary.

When we reported that the film had a production budget of just $15,000 “but looked 700 times more expensive”, some people in the comments freaked out — “you can’t make a monster movie for $15,000! the crew costs more than that! The camera costs more than that!” Best Buy has released a behind the scenes making of featurette on the movie showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did on such a low budget. Watch it now, embedded after the jump.Read More »

The Cannes Film Festival is more than just a festival. They also have a large film market where distributors try to market and sell their films to international territories. I started off my day on Thursday by attending a buyers screening. At Cannes, press are allowed admission to some of the buyers screenings, but only at the last minute with space permitting.

The 75 seat theater was filled for Gareth Edwards‘ Monsters, an independent sci-fi thriller which gained some high praise at SXSW. We got some of the last remaining seats. I went in with very low expectations, and was blown away.